Buddhist teachings emphasize the importance of compassion. The Boise Institute for Buddhist Studies will host a course on how to cultivate compassion. BIBS welcomes Winston Cheyney who will be presenting Stanford’s Compassion Cultivation Training(TM).

Winston Cheyney has studied the Dharma with Lama Jhampa Shaneman and Alan Wallace, among others, and recently completed the yearlong training course to be a teacher of Compassion Cultivation Training . Winston works as a Registered Nurse in Critical Care at St. Lukes in Boise, and has a special interest in the application of secular meditation practices to help healthcare providers sustain compassion and prevent burnout.

COURSE BASICS

The Compassion Cultivation Training program (CCT) is an eight-week program designed to develop the qualities of compassion, empathy, and kindness for oneself and for others. The training integrates traditional contemplative practices with contemporary psychology and scientific research on compassion. The program was developed at the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education by a team of contemplative scholars, clinical psychologists, and researchers.

What Is Compassion?

Compassion unfolds in response to distress, pain or suffering. It begins with the recognition of suffering, which gives rise to feelings of concern and empathy. This, in turn, motivates the willingness to take action to relieve that suffering. At different times, and in different situations, different parts of this process (awareness, feelings, empathy, action) may be most available and/or most skillful.